BEIJING — China’s insurance sector saw their premium income dip 18.5 percent year on year to 970.3 billion yuan ($154 billion) in January and February, the banking and insurance regulator said on April 3.

The decline follows an increase of 18.2 percent in 2017.

This drop came as authorities enhanced regulation of the sector to defuse financial risks as the country has listed preventing major risks as one of the country’s “three tough battles” for the next three years.

Outstanding investment by insurers neared 15 trillion yuan as of the end of February, up 0.5 percent from the start of the year, according to the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission.

Some 34.9 percent of the investment went to the bond market, while 12.9 percent was invested in stocks and securities funds, and 12.7 percent in bank savings, the commission said.

Total assets of the insurance industry stood at 16.9 trillion yuan at the end of February, representing an increase of 0.8 percent from the beginning of the year.